UK Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023: a legal solution for digital trade?

Introduced in Parliament on 12 October 2022, the Electronic Trade Documents Bill received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The following considers the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 and its implications.

In 2021 the Law Commission was asked by the UK Government to make recommendations for reform to allow for legal recognition of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange in electronic form. Following consultations, the Law Commission published its Electronic Trade Documents Report and submitted the Electronic Trade Documents Bill to Parliament in 2022.